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Friday, November 18, 2011

#OWS (or how to get "The Book" for free)

I'm sure most of those who follow BigAl's Books and Pals, regardless of where you live are familiar with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and the many localized movements patterned after it in cities and towns across the US. Even my little town of 60,000 has an Occupy encampment on the grounds of the local university. I'll refrain from taking a stand, for or against the movement here.

However, I got an email from author M. Clifford a few days ago asking me to help spread the word about a chance to get his novel, "The Book" for free. He explains why he is doing this on his blog, where you can see his full explanation. The short story is it was inspired by the eviction of the Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zucotti Park in New York City last Tuesday morning. Here is a part of his explanation:

What is most disturbing to me as an author is knowing that the 5,500 books from The People's Library that had been donated to the protesters were tossed into the back of those trucks!Now, this isn't Hitler's Germany here. I don't mean to come across like some activist who thinks there is a conspiracy to rid the protests of thought provoking literature. BUT - - - truth - - - it still happened. Dump trucks filled with books were hauled away from a peaceful protest by a dominating government agency without warning and under the cover of darkness in the middle of a media blackout. It sounds bad - it probably isn't - but it's still something to stir your blood. Are there justifiable reasons? Apparently. Is it likely that these books will find a home somewhere? I suppose. But the point is that the books had a peaceful home and they were forcibly removed.

His book is about a future where all books are electronic (kind of like those on our Kindles and Nooks) and can only be read on a government issued reading device called "The Book." It explores topics that should be of interest to all readers, especially those of us who are consuming much or all of our books in an electronic form.

To claim your free copy of The Book visit Clifford's website where you'll see a very prominent link to start the download.

7 comments:

I did not know the books were taken! Somehow, regardless of personal politics, the dismantling of a library seems, in many ways, like the ultimate expression of misplaced power. For who that has burned or censored books has ever been on the "right" side of history?

I agree, Alexa. I'm trying to keep my personal politics out of the discussion here (that's what my Facebook friends are for), but thought this was symbolic of the kind of thing the OWS movement is objecting to.

As far as you can "cash in" by giving something away, you're right, Arthur. :) And yes, I realize giving something away has the potential to get more paying customers for the author's other books. Many Indies have done just that as have traditional publishers.

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